Safeway

A San Ramon couple sued Safeway Inc. and a fruit distributor, claiming at least 10 people were sickened with the cyclospora parasite after eating raspberries. The suit, filed in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez on behalf of Ron and Carmen Haydel, also names Driscoll Strawberry Associates, a Watsonville fruit distributor.

Safeway Inc. was dismissed Monday from an antitrust suit claiming that the company and two of its competitors used a mutual-aid agreement to lessen the effect of the supermarket labor dispute in Southern California that ended more than two years ago. Safeway's Vons unit, which operates some of the Southern California stores that were involved in the 4 1/2 -month dispute, is still a defendant in the lawsuit brought by California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer. U.S.

Safeway Stores, which is the object of a takeover attempt by Dart Group, said Thursday that earnings declined 8.6% in the second quarter. For the 12 weeks ended June 14, Safeway had net earnings of $45.6 million, compared to $49.9 million in the same period of 1985. Safeway's earnings would have been even lower if the company hadn't taken advantage of an accounting change that recognized the overfunding of the company's retirement plans. That change added $8.

Safeway Inc., the third-largest U.S. supermarket company, said Monday that it would close 12 unprofitable Dominick's stores in and around Chicago that employ about 800 workers after failing to find a buyer for the chain. The store closings will result in as much as $55 million in pretax costs in the first quarter to exit leases, according to Safeway, which is headquartered in Pleasanton, Calif. The company didn't say how many jobs would be eliminated.

Attempting to cater to a consumer preference for jumbo supermarkets, Safeway Stores Inc. said Wednesday that it is closing some of its smaller, less profitable stores in Orange and Los Angeles counties and building larger "super stores." On July 6, one store in Santa Ana and another in Bellflower were closed. This weekend, two other stores, in Huntington Beach and Cerritos, will be shut down. Another, unidentified Orange County store is expected to be closed later this year.

Shares of Safeway Inc. tumbled after the firm disappointed investors by matching Wall Street earnings estimates for its fiscal third quarter. Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway, the nation's second-largest supermarket chain, said its profit rose 15% in the latest quarter to $223.4 million, or 44 cents a share. The results matched the average estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call Corp. but they were less than estimates of 46 cents published on the StreetIQ Web site, http://www.streetiq.com.

Safeway Stores said Tuesday that it has reshuffled its top management to give two key executives broader exposure to the company's retailing operations. Under the plan approved by the firm's board, E. Richard Jones relinquished his post as executive vice president in charge of information services and planning, as well as his spot in the company's five-member office of the chairman.

Safeway Inc. and Albertson's Inc. reached an agreement Tuesday with union negotiators on a contract that will grant 10,000 grocery store workers in Northern California raises of as much as $1.50 a hour over three years, the union said. Albertson's, the No.

Much of the nation's attention is focused too narrowly these days on a few money-hungry financial manipulators and their impact on the stock market and corporate America. Almost ignored are the hundreds of thousands of workers whose jobs are being eliminated or whose wages are being drastically cut as a result of the big-deal mania afflicting the country.

Plans by Vons and Pavilions to offer buyouts to some 7,000 veteran supermarket workers in Southern California have stalled because union officials say the program will deplete health and pension funds. Safeway Inc., based in Pleasanton, Calif., announced in December that it wanted to offer buyouts to workers at its 293 local Vons and Pavilions stores, allowing the company to hire cheaper workers under its two-tier union pay scale.